Monday, February 3, 2014

Maybelle is still around

Hello CM!

I've been here: reading, but not commenting. I wanted to write a post about my life, but it was job season, and an abysmal one at that.

The academic job market wasn't even sniffing at my
applications. Sure, I could hold out until the visiting positions start
posting in March, or I could start looking at adjuncting again, but
after my experience with Misleading U, well, I won't do it again.

With my COBRA coverage running out and a certain website being a complete disaster, I took stock in my life.

I have many tales to tell about the whole process (ordeal?). The good news is I celebrated the New Year with a new job. With benefits.

I miss teaching. I really do. But, I also had a health issue that needed to be addressed. I'm able to see a physician regularly (and afford the co-pays). Trying to feel well again has become my top priority.

I miss researching. I miss having students. I miss who I thought I would have become.

I do not miss begging at the academic table for a place to sit.

6 comments:

So glad to hear you're doing okay, Maybelle. It's because good people like you can't get jobs that I concluded long ago that the system is broken (anyone remember Invisible Adjunct?). Good luck with everything.

Hi, Maybelle! Thanks so much for checking in, and congratulations on the new job (and the benefits). I'm glad you're making taking care of yourself the top priority; someone needs to do it, and no one else is likely to take on the job (certainly not any entity associated with academia).

I get the sense of loss, but I suspect we all find our lives turning out to be somewhat different than we expected, even if we take exactly the paths we planned. Being able to take stock, decide to try a different approach, and follow through on it is a pretty valuable skill, one that I suspect will serve you well (as will, in some ways, I'm sure, the Ph.D.).

Do keep us updated, please, when you can. I'm sure there's some room on CM for some "Ph.D. encounters world outside the academy misery" (or maybe even happiness?)

Good to hear from you, and glad to hear you found benefits (from a UK perspective, our NHS is very creaky, but the stories from the US about those who fall outside the benefits system are just terrifying)

What Was This?

College Misery was a dysfunctional group blog where professors got the chance to release some of the frustration that built up while tending to student snowflakes, helicopter parents, money mad Deans, envious colleagues, and churlish chairpeople.

Our parent site, Rate Your Students, started in 2005, and we continued that mission beginning in 2010. Ben at Academic Water Torture and Kimmie at The Apoplectic Mizery Maker both ran support blogs during periods when this blog had died.